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QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement in response to early planning information about adult booster doses of the COVID vaccine, and the first dose for children five to 11:
“The NDP wants to see a smooth vaccine rollout for children and adult third-doses that makes it truly easy and convenient for everyone to get the shot they need. We need to take the vaccines to the people. That’s why today’s news that Doug Ford will not have school-based vaccine clinics for students is a major disappointment for parents and families.
Instead of school-based vaccines for any family comfortable with that option, parents will have to both sign a form and be present to give consent. Until parents are given paid days off to attend their kids’ vaccine, that’s a major barrier for kids of essential workers.
We desperately want Doug Ford to learn the lessons of the original vaccine rollout. It was the hunger games. People waited in line for hours. They relied on a Vax Hunters Twitter account to tell them where to go. Homebound people and folks with disabilities didn’t get help for way too long because there was never a provincial system to deliver their shots. The neighbourhoods with the highest proportion of essential workers got the least amount of help.
The NDP is calling for a province-wide, in-school vaccine option for all families. We’re calling for family doctors to be better included this time. And we’re calling for a province-wide system to deliver shots at home to seniors staying indoors in the cold months, and to people with disabilities.”
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